Musings About Twitter, Blogs, and Technology

I read an interesting blog from Karl Fisch, a technology coordinator at a high school in Colorado.  His August 15th entry talks about the use of Twitter.  It seems there was an editorial in the Denver Post about Twitter and how the writer hopes that it is just a passing fancy.

Karl Fisch in his blog has a rather interesting discussion about Twitter and whether or not it is useful or important.

I found the discussing rather provocative, in that it made me think.  I have a Twitter account - twitter.com/docsmatthews.  I use Twitter in ways that the editorial writer and Mr. Fisch suggest are not very interesting.  I post little statements about what I am doing or announcements on the district, all of the posts are work related but really not very revealing.

Mr. Fisch talks about Twitter in the larger context of technology.  He suggests that any technology can help a person learn, grow, and become more productive.  That started me thinking about how I use technology - this blog, Twitter, emails, and such.  Have I thought about how to use these tools in thoughtful ways?  Have I thought about how I can use technology to connect with people, share ideas, think through problems, inspire or lead others?

The answer, sadly, is probably not.  Technology has certainly made me more productive.  I can do more things faster with technology.  But I haven't really looked consider technology thoughtfully.  Beyond an increase in productivity, how can technology enrich my life?

My goal is to think more carefully about technology - about Twitter and blogs and Facebook - to see beyond the surface and discover ways to use it more thoughtfully.